Structure of Σ7 grain boundary in Al2O3

Author(s):  
C. C. Chu ◽  
F.-R. Chen ◽  
C.-Y. Wang ◽  
L. Chang

In the past, extensive high resolution electron microscopy has been applied to the atomic structure of grain boundaries of cubic symmetry. In order to have a better understanding of generalization of the grain boundary theory, it could be fruiful to study grain boundary structure of non-cubic and low symmetry crystals in which case the exact CSL’s may not exist. Al2O3 has a hexagonal crystal structure ( non-cubic). In the case of hexagonal crystals, three dimensional coincidence site lattices (CSL’s) are only possible for rational values of (c/a), except for rotations about the [0001] axis. The (c/a) of α-Al2O3 is very close to a rational number (15/2) such that constrained coincidence-site lattice (CCSL) misorientations can be found. In this research, we study the atomic structure of Σ7 grain boundary. The misonentation of Σ7 is [011]/180°. The bicrystals of Σ7 were made by diffusion bonding in high temperature and high vacuum.Figs. 1 (a) and (b). show typical HRTEM images of Σ7 Al2O3 boundary recorded at the underfocus values -48 nm and -96 nm, respectively. The beam direction is parallel to a common axis [20].

2005 ◽  
Vol 475-479 ◽  
pp. 1673-1676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isamu Kuchiwaki ◽  
Takahiro Hirabayashi ◽  
Hiroshi Fukushima

Cast polycrystalline silicon for solar cell contains mostly straight twin boundaries which are thought to have little effect on the electrical activity. There are, however, some complicated grain boundaries in it. One of these boundaries consists of slightly curved and straight parts. The structure of this boundary was analyzed to investigate the difference of these two types of boundaries. The conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) found that this slightly curved boundary was the zigzag shaped boundary made by (11 _ ,2) and ( _ ,211) planes. High resolution electron microscopy (HREM) confirmed that (11 _ ,2) plane was the boundary of {112} Σ3 twin boundary which formed a straight grain boundary at the other end of the analyzed grain boundary, and also confirmed that ( _ ,2 11) plane was also the boundary of {112} Σ3 twin boundary which intersected with the former twin boundary at an angle of 120 [deg].


1998 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 3449-3452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takahisa Yamamoto ◽  
Yuichi Ikuhara ◽  
Katsuro Hayashi ◽  
Taketo Sakuma

Grain boundary structure was examined in 0.1 mol% TiO2-excess BaTiO3 by high-resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Their grain boundaries were mostly faceted with {210} type habit. The faceted boundaries were characterized to be associated with an extra Ti–O2 bond with the rutile-like structure. The grain growth behavior in a small TiO2-excess BaTiO3 is discussed from the viewpoint of grain boundary structure.


1991 ◽  
Vol 232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. J. Zhang ◽  
L. Withanawasam ◽  
G. C. Hadjipanayis ◽  
A. Kim

ABSTRACTThe coercivity of melt-spun Pr-Fe-B ribbons was found to increase with the addition of Cu and Al. The change in size and shape of grains with Cu and Al substitution were investigated by transmission eletron microscopy (TEM) and the grain boundary structure was further examined with high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). For small substitutions only “disturbed lattice” regions were observed at most of the grain boundaries. Secondary phases rich in the added elements were observed mostly at tripple grain boundaries and sometimes at grain boundaries in samples with larger amounts of substitution. The grain size in the substituted samples does not decrease much with further substitution. However, the shape of grains changes from polyhexagons to facets. The enhancement in coercivity can be explained by the grain size reduction and the modification of microstructure at the grain boundary regions.


Author(s):  
D. Cherns

The use of high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) to determine the atomic structure of grain boundaries and interfaces is a topic of great current interest. Grain boundary structure has been considered for many years as central to an understanding of the mechanical and transport properties of materials. Some more recent attention has focussed on the atomic structures of metalsemiconductor interfaces which are believed to control electrical properties of contacts. The atomic structures of interfaces in semiconductor or metal multilayers is an area of growing interest for understanding the unusual electrical or mechanical properties which these new materials possess. However, although the point-to-point resolutions of currently available HREMs, ∼2-3Å, appear sufficient to solve many of these problems, few atomic models of grain boundaries and interfaces have been derived. Moreover, with a new generation of 300-400kV instruments promising resolutions in the 1.6-2.0 Å range, and resolutions better than 1.5Å expected from specialist instruments, it is an appropriate time to consider the usefulness of HREM for interface studies.


1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Babcock ◽  
D. C. Larbalestier

Regular networks of localized grain boundary dislocations (GBDs) have been imaged by means of transmission electron microscopy in three different types of high-angle grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7-δ, implying that these boundaries possess ordered structures upon which a significant periodic strain field is superimposed. The occurrence of these GBD networks is shown to be consistent with the GBD/Structural Unit and Coincidence Site Lattice (CSL)/Near CSL descriptions for grain boundary structure. Thus, these dislocations appear to be intrinsic features of the boundary structure. The spacing of the observed GBDs ranged from ∼10 nm to ∼100 nm. These GBDs make the grain boundaries heterogeneous on a scale that approaches the coherence length and may contribute to their weak-link character by producing the “superconducting micro-bridge” microstructure which has been suggested on the basis of detailed electromagnetic measurements on similar samples.


Author(s):  
Stuart McKernan ◽  
C. Barry Carter

General tilt grain boundaries can be viewed in terms of small structural units of varying complexity. High-resolution electron microscope (HREM) images of these boundaries in many materials show this repetitive similarity of the atomic structure at the boundary plane. The structure of particular grain boundaries has been examined for several special cases and commonly observed configurations include symmetric tilt grain boundaries and asymmetric tilt grain boundaries with one grain having a prominent, low-index facet. Several different configurations of the boundary structure may possibly occur, even in the same grain boundary. There are thus many possible ways to assemble the basic structural units to form a grain boundary. These structural units and their distribution have traditionally been examined by high-resolution electron microscopy. The images of the projection of the atomic columns (or the tunnels between atomic columns) providing a template for constructing “ball-and-stick ” models of the interface.


1999 ◽  
Vol 589 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Potin ◽  
G. Nouet ◽  
P. Ruterana ◽  
R.C. Pond

AbstractThe studied GaN layers are made of mosaYc grains rotated around the c-axis by angles in the range 0-25°. Using high-resolution electron microscopy, anisotropic elasticity calculations and image simulation, we have analyzed the atomic structure of the edge threading dislocations. Here, we present an analysis of the Σ = 7 boundary using circuit mapping in order to define the Burgers vectors of the primary and secondary dislocations. The atomic structure of the primary ones was found to exhibit 5/7 and 8 atom cycles.


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